We all face challenges every day. I believe part of my purpose in life is to help others thrive in the midst of them. On Labor Day of 2003, my family and I were flying from northern Michigan to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. As we were preparing to land, the airplane crashed and burst into flames. My dad threw me out of the plane and saved my life. He went back into the flames to get my mom, Julie, my sister, Lindsay, and brother, Ian, but tragically, was unable to. My mom, sister and brother did not survive. My dad and I grieved the loss of our family but we found ways to keep living in the midst of the incomprehensible pain. We pushed each other to overcome, as we knew my mom, sister and brother would’ve wanted.

Eventually, my dad met a lovely woman named Kimberly, who had three kids of her own. They got married and together, we had a great, blended family. I was working hard on my basketball skills and began to have success on the court. My dream was to play for Michigan. On June 15, 2011, Coach Beilein offered me a full scholarship to play basketball for him and The University of Michigan, which I accepted. It was a dream come true. Nine days later, on June 24th, 2011, my dad, “second mom” and I were flying to Northern Michigan to have a weekend of celebration. As we were preparing to land, the airplane crashed, and my dad and second mom were killed on impact. I suffered severe injuries and was nearly killed myself. After being in a coma for over two months, I had to relearn how to walk, talk and basically how to live life. With the help of many incredible doctors, nurses, therapists, my family and friends, I found a way to make it to Michigan.

My message is about the road to recovery from both plane crashes, but especially from the second one when I was almost killed. I believe my journey from a coma, to a wheelchair to playing for Michigan can help others overcome and grow through any form of adversity. Our challenges in life and in business are more similar than they are different. Adversity is adversity. A lot of things had to happen to overcome the adversity I faced after the second plane crash and to achieve my goal achieve my goal of making it to Michigan. I’m so grateful for everyone who helped me along the way. But, more than anything, it took some Grit. I think it will take Grit to achieve our goals any time, but especially in the face of adversity. There are four key components to Grit, but I believe Grit is driven by having a Greater Purpose. If we are working just for ourselves, it is very likely that we will eventually face some form of adversity that will cause us to give up because we don’t have a driving force for why we do what we do. We need to find something that we’re willing to sacrifice for. If we are working for something bigger than ourselves, I believe we will always be willing do what it takes to get the job done, no matter the task and no matter the circumstances. Our Purpose drives Grit.

The Growth Mindset is the first component of Grit. The Growth Mindset believes every setback, every failure, every adversity, is an opportunity. Even when we inevitably fall short of a goal, the Growth Mindset does not believe that is a permanent condition. We can find a way to grow through the adversity and be better because of it. The adversity alone will not be a source of growth, but I believe we can grow by how we choose to respond. It’s a choice to have the Growth Mindset. The decision to be Resilient is the second component of Grit. If we make the decision to be Resilient, I believe we take Massive Action in the face of adversity. Massive Action. It took Massive Action to go from a coma to playing for Michigan. I believe achieving our goals in the midst of challenges is the result of taking Massive Action. Massive Action alone does not guarantee we’ll overcome our challenges and achieve our goals, but not taking massive action will guarantee that we won’t. The third component of Grit is Integrity. In the context of overcoming adversity, or working to achieve any goal, I believe Integrity is about following through on our commitments, especially when our circumstances change. I believe we should always deliver on what we commit to, both to ourselves and to those on our team. A lot of people set goals, and that’s very important, but I think it’s more effective to make commitments that will put us in position to achieve our goals. If we have integrity, we’ll always follow through on our commitments, no matter the task and no matter the circumstance. The fourth component of Grit is The Team First Mentality. We owe it to the team to take pride on our role, whatever it is. We should make the effort every day to be the best that we can be. Every person on every team has a role and that role is very important. We may not be the best on the team, but we can all make the effort to be the best we can be for the team. There is no “I” in team, but I believe a team will be better if it is made up of individuals who are personally driven to be the best they can be. We all face challenges every day. I believe part of my purpose in life to help others find ways to thrive in the midst of them.